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Tic Tac Dough (1979 Transmanian game show)
Tic Tac Dough (known as (The New) Tic Tac Dough) is a Transmanian television game show of the American version of the same name based on the paper-and-pencil game of tic-tac-toe. Contestants answer questions in various categories to put up their respective symbol, X'' or ''O, on the board. It was premiered on ATN in April 2, 1979 and ended on December 1982 and was hosted by Nicholas Segers from 1979 to 1980 who later host Press Your Luck in 1984 and TBN Radio 1 personality Andrew Cunningham was the host of the show from 1980 until 1982 and returned in fall of 1983 (who served as a full-substitute host between 1980 and 1981). Olivia Aurora-Webber served as a permanent announcer for the show's run. The show was returned again and was reborn as The New Tic Tac Dough on TBN and was premiered on September 19, 1983 and ended in December 1987. Gameplay The goal of the game was to complete a line of three X or O markers on a standard tic-tac-toe board (with the reigning champion always mounting X's). Each of the nine spaces on the gameboard featured a category. Contestants alternated choosing a category and answering a general interest or trivia question in that category. If they were correct, they earned an X or O in that square; otherwise, it remained unclaimed. The centre square, being of the most strategic importance, involved a two-part question, with the contestant given 10 seconds to think of the two answers needed to win the square. After each question, the categories shuffled into different positions (Originally, the categories shuffled only after both contestants had taken a turn). If at any point in a game it became impossible for either contestant to win with a line (a so-called "cat game"), the match was declared a draw and a new game started. The process continued until the deadlock was broken, however long it took to do so. This meant that a match could take multiple episodes to complete, which happened quite often. Tic Tac Dough used a rollover format to enable this to take place smoothly. This meant that a match could start at any point in an episode, continue until the time was called, and then resume play on the next episode where the game began with the same categories in play. The gameboard was made up of nine Apple II systems connected to individual computer monitors to represent each game screen, all linked to a central Altair 8800 computer, which displayed the categories, X's and O's, bonus round numbers and amounts, and a dragon, in addition to a moving screensaver and custom messages. It was the only game show to use computeriszed graphics. Contestants played until either being defeated or reaching the £600,000 total winnings limit, it increased to £800,000 in 1984. Additionally, each time a contestant defeated five more opponents, he or she also won a new car: #Ford Thunderbird (£1,700, £2,300, £3,100) #Renault Alliance (£2,800, later £3,400) #Chevrolet Silverado (£3,200, later £3,400) #Chevrolet Cavalier (£3,800, £2,900, £3,100) #Mitsubishi Pajero (£5,700) #Ford Cortina (£3,100, £3,500, £4,800). # Adding money to the pot As questions were answered correctly, money was added to the pot which went to the winner: Each new game featured a different set of nine categories. If there were ties, the pot was carried over to each subsequent game until someone won. For each tie game before being defeated, losing challengers received £250 from early 1981 to 1987. Champions who eventually lost the match after a tie game did not receive any additional money. Other differences The ATN era featured gameplay differences. Categories were shuffled at the beginning of the game and then only prior to the champion (playing as X) choosing a category. The challenger was required to select from the remaining categories after the champion's turn. After shuffling, some categories were featured with a darker background rather than blue. If a category with a darker background was selected, either contestant could ring-in and respond, regardless of who selected the category. Unlike the Nighttime version, tie games did not result in the pot carrying over or a new set of categories being played. Instead, a final jump-in question was asked and whoever answered it correctly won the game and advanced to the bonus round. The jump-in format was later used in other seasons as the "Jump-In Category" (see "Special Categories" below). Special categories The use of special categories, which appeared in red boxes, began on the Cunningham era in early 1982. At first, just one special category (starting in the lower right box, later in the lower centre box) was used per game. Eventually. The categories then shuffled like normal categories, though special categories never shuffled into the centre box. *'Auction'* – This was the sixth red category introduced in 1986, Contestants were read a question with multiple answers. Contestants took turns bidding on how many correct answers they could name until either a contestant deferred to his opponent or opted to name all the answers on the list. If the winning bidder fulfilled the bid, that contestant won the box. If not, the other contestant only needed to give one additional correct answer to win the box. * Bonus Category – This was the fifth red category introduced in early 1985, A three-part question was asked, which, if answered correctly, gave the contestant another turn. The categories were shuffled before the extra turn; as a result, it was possible for the champion to win the game on his/her first turn by repeatedly selecting this category. If this happened, the challenger was invited back to compete on a future episode. * Challenge Category*: This was the fourth red category introduced in early 1985, The contestant who selected this category could answer the question or challenge their opponent to answer. If the opponent challenged gives a wrong answer, the contestant who selected the category won the box and vice versa. * Grand Question: Starting in late 1985, This category replaced Secret Category (see below). A correct answer added £5,000 to the pot. * Jump-In Category*: This was the very first special red category introduced in early 1982, Contestants used the buzzers in front of them to ring-in and answer the question. A correct answer won the box, but an incorrect answer gave the other contestant a chance to win the box and gets in control of the game by hearing the entire question. *'Secret Category': This was the show's first red category introduced in early 1984, which first appeared in the lower right-hand corner at the start, then later appeared in the bottom centre at the start. The topic of the Secret Category was only announced by the host after it was selected. A correct answer to that category doubled the value of the pot. This category was eventually retired because on numerous occasions, the pot scored so many big jackpots and as a result, this category was later replaced by Grand Question (see above). * Opponent's Choice*: Introduced as the show's third red category in early 1985, The contestant answered a question from one of two categories which were selected for them by the opponent. Later, one category contained one question while the other category contained two. * Trivia Challenge*: A question with three multiple-choice answers was asked. The contestant chose to answer first or defer to their opponent. Regardless of who started, if a contestant was incorrect, his/her opponent could choose from the remaining answers. If the opponent also guessed wrong, the box remained unclaimed. *': Indicates that the category was used for either a block or for a win. Bonus round The bonus round was introduced giving the winner of a match a chance to "Beat the Dragon". ATN Seasons 1-3 only, 1979-80 On the first three seasons of the show airing on ATN Daytime that used the 1978 short-lived CBS daytime version, the bonus round had four Xs, four Os and one dragon hidden inside the nine monitors. The Xs and Os have shuffled around so that one of the symbols formed a "Tic Tac Dough". For each X and O, a contestant revealed, £150 was added to the pot. The contestant won the money and a prize package for finding the "Tic Tac Dough" line but could quit and take the cash at any time. Finding the dragon ended the round and lost all the money in the pot. If the dragon was found, the same prize package was at stake for the entire episode until won. ATN Seasons 4-7 1980-82, TBN Seasons 1-6, 1983-87 Starting in 1980 until the show's ending, the squares contained the words "TIC" and "TAC", and six currency amounts: £100, £150, £250, £300, £400, £500 (originally £50, £100, £250, £350, £400, and £500). The remaining box concealed the dragon. The object was for the contestant to accumulate £1,000 or more. If successful, the contestant won the cash and a prize package that usually consisted of furniture, trips, jewellery, and/or appliances, totalling anywhere between £2,000 and £4,000. From 1980 to 1984, the same prize package was at stake for the entire show until won, but this was changed to a different prize package for each bonus round for the final seven seasons. The contestant automatically won by uncovering "TIC" and "TAC" (at which point the contestant also had his/her cash total amended to £1,000 to their total). However, if the contestant found the dragon, the game ended and the contestant forfeited the prize package and the accumulated money. The contestant could stop at any time, take the money and forgo the prize package. For a brief period in early 1986, a contestant had to accumulate exactly £1,000 or find TIC and TAC, but this was quickly removed. Broadcast history 1979-83, ATN version After six or more decades of introducing Transmanian television, the programme premiered on ATN on April 2, 1979 at 5.30pm which was the second Barry & Enright game show (the first was ''The Joker's Wild) to be ever adapted on the US version of the same name. The news broadcaster and correspondent Nicholas Segers hosted Tic Tac Dough for 1 season, then left in 1980 to host the news brief for Newsline. TBN Radio 1 disc jockey, television and radio producer Andrew Cunningham who served as the executive producer of the programme and other Barry & Enright shows has taken over the host of the ATN version started in 1980 in which he earlier served as the full substitute host for Segers in January 1980, Cunningham hosted the show until the end of late 1981 and he hosted the programme from the start of early 1982 until the series finale. Olivia Aurora-Webber, a longtime friend of TBN Radio 1 disc jockey Andrew Cunningham was served as announcer for the show's run who was familiarised for announcing several television game shows since 1974. The repeats of the original broadcast of the ATN version of Tic Tac Dough was removed from its schedule on August 25, 1983. 1983-91, TBN version On May 18, 1983, it was announced that The New Tic Tac Dough will move to the network to maintain high TV ratings to compete with back to back new episodes of the sister show The Joker's Wild in order to be paired up with other TV programmes. On early of September 1983, The New Tic Tac Dough and other of its network facilities were moved to TBN and the show premiered in September 1983 at 7.30pm and was also hosted by TBN Radio 1 personality Andrew Cunningham and Olivia Aurora-Webber also served as the announcer for the show's run, other substitute announcers for Aurora-Webber is Mary-Lou Basaraba. The show welcomed new contestants from across the country. On September 10, 1984, (The New) Tic Tac Dough competes with Press Your Luck and Pyramid, the show moved to the 8.00pm evening slot. TBN renews the programme for 3 seasons making it to the 1986-87 Transmanian television season to compete with other shows that become more successful. On February 1987, the show garnered over 26.11 billion viewers by Nielsen and turned strong for the entire year. On September 1984, the show was rated as the No. 1 most popular primetime record-breaking game show. On February 1987, The New Tic Tac Dough was renewed for the final 2 seasons making it to the 1988-89 season without any known changes to the set. On September 1988, the show celebrated 10 years and the show's ratings were increased to 36.5 billion viewers by Nielsen. As a result of making the show most successful, the show was ended on March 17, 1989, during strong ratings. In an interview, Cunningham stated that while the TBN version started to end airing on March 1989. OST Entertainment, under the name '''CTRS Entertainment, secured a spot to force TBN to axe ATN's ratings since its premiere. Throughout its run, the show used its theme song entitled "Crazy Fun", which was composed by Hal Hidey. The show was recorded at Senbai Television Studios in Rixterri and Bourbon in studio 33 at different times. Beginning around October 21, 1983, in the TBN era, every Friday was "Chart Singles Night", where Cunningham received albums on charts singles from the Transmanian Marketing Research Bureau complied for TBN Radio 1. The gameboard, designed by Bob Bishop of Apple Computer, Inc., was driven by nine Apple II computers, each one responsible for displaying a single box of the gameboard, and in turn controlled by an Altair 8800 system. It was one of the very first uses of computer graphics on a television game show. Season overview ATN era TBN era Kids & Teens Week/Back to School editions In the Cunningham era, these short-lived Kids and Teen Week or Back to School editions were also for contestants designed for ages 9-21. If every time, a kid or teen contestants defeat 5 or more opponents gets to win a prize package or even a car for teens. 2002 revival The 2002 planned revival of Tic Tac Dough was produced by Columbia TriStar International Television and left with some of the reiterated rules, two new contestants open each day (one with the returning champion mounting X). The first question is a toss-up for the inside box. If the contestant who buzzes in first gets it right, he/she gets the centre square and £500 is added to the pot. The other opponent gets the next questions. The categories will be shuffled, as before - then the contestant who gets the toss-up question right plays again. The front game will be a best 2-of-3 format. Each game ends when someone gets Tic Tac Dough, or the first contestant to get 5 spaces. The winner must get his/her question right to win. The front game's winner takes on the returning champion in a one-game showdown (from Face the Music). Once again, the winning contestant is the one who gets Tic Tac Dough or gets 5 spaces. The day's champion then goes on to the Bonus Round, where he/she attempts to face the dragon with updated values and a progressive prize package. The values on the board remained the same as £100-£150-£200-£300-£400-£500, plus Tic, Tac, and the Dragon. The contestant wins the bonus round by hitting Tic and Tac or accumulating £1,000 in the game without hitting the dragon. If the dragon is hit, the contestant loses all of his/her winnings. The contestant can stop at any time in the game. The prize package that the contestant can win is at £2,000-£7,000. Each day that the endgame isn't won, another prize is added and one will be added every day that someone doesn't win. When a contestant wins the endgame, a new prize package will be up for grabs. A contestant who wins five games wins a car, which should be in the £3,000-£9,000 range. When a contestant wins ten games and two cars, he/she is automatically retired as champion. References Category:Game shows Category:1979 Transmanian television series debuts Category:1982 Transmanian television series endings Category:Television series revieved after cancellation Category:1983 Transmanian television series debuts Category:1988 Transmanian television series endings Category:1970s Transmanian television series Category:1980s Transmanian television series Category:1990s Transmanian television series Category:TBN network shows Category:Television series by OST Entertainment